Combined peanut-vine cleaner and conveyer



Sept. 22, 1925.

' Original Filed sent. 28. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheetv 1 Sept. 22, 1925. A 1,554,750

' F. MIHAUT COMBINED PEANUT VINE CLEANER AND CONVEYER Original Filed sepfu 28. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 S14/vanto@ Patented Sept. 22, 1925.`

UNITED AsfrATE- PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK MIHAUT, or rn'rnnsnune, v'rnGINrA `AssI'c'nmnt Ero Annina Mineur, or

PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA.

COMBINED PEANUTeVINE CLEANER AND CONVEYER;

Application filed September 28, 1922, Serial No. 591,146. Renewed March 3, 1925.

To all /wiom et may concern.'

Be it known that'I, FRANK Mineur, a citizen of the United States, residing at Petersburg, in the county of Dinwiddie and State of Vir ,g;inia,` have invented certain new and useful'Improvements in Combined Peanut-Vine Cleaners and Conveyers, of which the following is a specification.

The present 'invention consists, of a com*` bined peanut vine cleaner and conveyer which is adapted for attachment to a peanut threshing machine.

rlhe principal object of this invention is to effectively clean the peanut vines by mechanical means, without the intervention of manual effort, and to conduct the cleaned vines to a predetermined point. y

A coordinate object of the invention is to .incorporate suitable bridging means in the cleaning rmechanism to ydeiect theV vines from the conducting mechanism, permitting the vines to pass from the cleaning mechanism directly onto the ground to permit rethreshing of the vines or allow for any other disposal ofthesame. Y f

The above and other objects of this in vention will be understood from the following description of the present preferred embodiment ofthe invention taken in connectin with the accompanying drawings wherein y Fig. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe combined vine cleaner and conductor `constructed in accordance with `this invention illustrating the application of the sameon a peanut threshing machine; l

Fig 2 is a vertical sectional view of the vine cleaner per se; y y, y J pFig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the combined vine cleaner and conductor; and

Fig. Llis a horizontal sectional view of the combined vine cleaner and conductor.

Inthe drawings, in order to illustrate the application of this invention a portion of a threshing machine 5 is shown which may be of the usual or any desired construction. In the present instance the rear end of the threshing machine is shown to be of standard configuration and has the endless con- `veyer' attachment removed therefrom leaving suflicient space at the rear end 'of the thresher for the accommodation of my improved vine cleaner and conductor generally designated 6. The invention is secured to the thresher in any suitable manner'such for instance as byin'etal straps 7 andg. The invention consistsjespecially of parallellyarranged horizontal supporting beams 9 ywhich are mounted upon the straps `8. These beams have a superstructure l0 are ranged thereon which in the present linstance consistsof apair of parallel boards or plates 11 whichjare inclinedj and are arranged to dispose their innerends adjacent the outlet end of the threshing machine. The boards 11 have a screen y12 secured to the upper margins thereof said screen being clamped into engagementl with the boards 12fby bars 13. The bars V13"` `are arranged aboveand are securedto the boards 1l in any desired manner. Upon reference to Fig. 4^ of the drawings it will be apparent that the screen 12 extends from one board `11to the other and extends the complete lengt-hs of the boards.

Each of the bars 13 carries a pair of bearing plates 14, the bearingplates of one bar Vbeing 'in parallelism withuthe bearing plates of the opposite bar, each 4pair of parallel plates V,having the endsofA a `shaft 15 jour* naled therein. y `Each of said shafts carries a `sprocket wheel y16 adjacent to the inner face of each of the bearings 14, said wheelsy being engaged with the sprocketlchains of Aan A endless conveyer 17. The endless conveyer .includesslats 1,8 which eXtendtransversely across fromone sprocket to the other said -slats being adapted for wiping contact over the upper surface of the screen 12 in order to keep the latteryfree from the ,accumula-l tion of dust or other extraneous materials. The conveyer may be actuated by engagement of a power belt 18 with a pulley 182.`

The power belt may be engaged with a lsource of energy on the threshing machine Vif so desired.` v j y l falls 19 rise upwardly from the beams 9 and have the upper margins thereof disposed atan inclination and `engaged with 'a 1 top 20. In this way a casing is provided for the cleaning mechanism which casing is open at the front to permit the entrance of the peanut vines directed thereinto `from the threshing machine. The rear of the casing has the lower end thereof closed `as indicated at 21, but the upper end thereof above the apex of the conveyer 17 is open,

plurality offleXible baffles 23 one of which is preferably arranged so that its lower marginal edge will be in surface contact with the upper runof the conveyer 17 adjacent the front lendY ofv the latter. c Then other baffle is preferably arranged so that its lower marginal edge *l will be in surface contact with the upper run of the conveyer about midway thev ends ofv the latter. In the present instance the baliesare preferably made of canvas against which the peanut vines will be projected from the thresher. These battles will be sufficiently stable to causethe peanut vinesto drop on to the conveyer 17, but at the same time will be, flexed sutliciently to yield under pressure.

In order to convey the peanut vines to some predetermined point, after the vines 'have passed yto the` end of the conveyer, suitable conductor mechanism is provided. This Conductor mechanism includes a chute 24 the lower end of which is formed to provideachannel or troughl25. The chute and channel"preferably'consist of an integral metallic vsheet the upper edge of which is engaged with the bars 13 and is supported by the latter. One end of the channel or trough 25 communicates with an opening 2,6 through which the peanut vines are drawn by the suction of a fan 27. The fan 27 is mounted in a suitable casing 28 arranged on one of the side walls 19. The casing 28 has 'a conveyertube 29 issuing therefrom which may be of any desired length so that the outlet ends will be positioned at any desired point remote from the thresher. The fan 27 is operated through the'instrumentality of a power belt, operated by the thresher or by anyi other suitable power` means engaged with the fan pulley 30..y

At times it may be necessary to divert the peanut vines to allow the same fto be rethreshed or to permit'some other, disposition to bemade of the same. Consequent-v ly, I have provided suitable means whereby the vinesmay be instantly diverted from the conductor mechanism' when desired by theoperator- This mechanism consists of a kbridge board 31 preferably of oblong shape and having the ends thereof varranged tok lie in close proximity'to the sides 19.- One'of the lateral margins of the boardsl is equipped with a rod'32 the ends kof which rod are journaled in the sides 19. The rod is fixed toy the, bridge board 31 so that rotation of the rod will correspondingly actuate the bridge board. In' order to facilitate rotation of said rod a l'rnob 33 may be mounted on one end thereof. Also, in order to hold the bridge board in an inoperative position, such as indicated by the dotted lines 83, a pawl and ratchet mechanism may be employed, in which instance a ratchet 34 may be mounted upon the rod 32 and a pawl 85 pivotally mounted on one of the sides 19 in proximity to the ratchet wheel 34 to engage the latter. -Vhen it is desired to lower the bridge board into the position shown in Fig. 3 the pawl may be disengaged. When the bridge board is inthe position shown in F ig. 3 of the drawings the peanut vines carried by the conveyer Vwill pass over the bridge board through the opening 22 and ontoY the ground.

land are so obnoxiousto attendants conveying the peanut vines, will be'permitted to gravitate downwardly through the slats 18 and through the screen 12 on to the ground. Of course, the screen prevents-the passage of any of the vines therethrough and the screen j is constantly cleansed by the engagement of the slats 18 of the conveyery therewith. In

this way, tliejpeanut vines are thoroughly cleaned and may be conveyed 'to any pre- `determined point without the intervention of manual assistance. IThis is important in view of the well known undesirable characteristics of the peanut and allied vines which although veryfdesirable asan animal food are undesirable to handle because of the dust and Vother foreign particles :accompanying thesame. Y 'y It is off coursey to bev understood that various changesvmay 'be made in this device especially in4 the details of construction,

proportion and, arrangement of partswithin the scope of the claims appended hereto. lVhat is'fclaimed is v 1. A Vpeanut vine cleaner for threshing machines including a casing equipped with 'an inclinedscreen the lower end of which is arranged in proximity to the outlet end of the thresher, an endless conveyer movable above said screen Vand including slats which wipe over the latter, and fabric baffies depending from the top of said casing above the conveyer to be impinged by materials passing from the thresher substantiallyV as described. 4 l

2. A combined peanut vine cleaner ,and conveyer including a casing, a vine conveyer operatively' mounted in said casing, a chtite depending downwardly from the discharge end of the conveyer, a conductor in communication with said chute to catch vines gravitating from the latter, one end of said casing .having an opening therein, a bridge board normally extending across the opening and being movable into a position across the top'of the chute and extending from the discharge end of the conveyery to said .TNO

llO

casing opening to deflect the vines, from the chute directly through said casing` opening- 3. A combined peanut vine cleaner and conductor including a casing equipped with cleaning mechanism, the lower rear end of said casing being closed and equipped With vine conductor mechanism, and deflecting mechanism operable to prevent passage of said vines into said conductor mechanism and to deflect said vines through the rear end of the casing', above said closed part of the latter.

4. A combined peanut vine cleaner and conveyer including a easing equipped With a screen supporting structure, a vine couveyer movable across said screen, a chute depending from one end of the supporting structure and comprising a metal sheet the lower end of which is formed to provide a trough, one side of said casing` having an opening therein which communicates with one end ci the trough, and a vine conductor communicating` with said opening'.

FRANK MIHAUT. 

